MovieChat Forums > Less Than Zero (1987) Discussion > Died of crack cocaine overdose or AIDS v...

Died of crack cocaine overdose or AIDS virus?

posted 9 years ago by Whereishoward
13 replies | jump to latest

Most likely, Julian died of crack cocaine overdose, or was it AIDS from all the escorting around. In the 80's, men who slept around like that were all on borrowed time.

[–] dl4060 9 years ago

That was an overdose from freebasing.

AIDS does not kill that way. People with AIDS get other diseases which is what kills them. Strictly speaking AIDS does not kill anyone.

Julian had only been escorting a short time. Even if he had AIDS he would not have had it long enough for it to kill him, and it would not have killed him in that way. It was an OD.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] hexrei 8 years ago

Agreed. And to add to this, the cumulative effects of many effective overdoses in a short period of time, not eating, not sleeping except when literally losing consciousness perhaps. Looking at statistics, many addicts live for several decades doing crack in something approaching moderation, some even do that and make it out alive afterward; I think the money he had available to him early on and the lifestyle circumstances of constantly being around dealers, with credit lines available to him or willing to work in trade, hastened his demise drastically.

I know 50 grand of drug debt can seem kind of vague without context, but if he's spending it on crack, that's a LOT of crack, and in 80's dollars. He must be essentially staying high 24/7 if he's there at only 22 or 23 or whatever he is supposed to be.

What a lovely way to burn...

[–] SCY385-1 8 years ago

Julian OD'd. Remember the scene when Rip's goon lit up some crack when Julian told Rip he was going to try to get clean. Then when Clay went and got him he damned near fell out in the parking lot of a gas station. Clay wanted to take him to the hospital but Julian didn't want to go.

[–] balboa76 8 years ago

I always thought that Julian died because his heart finally gave out because of damage from the drugs, stress and exhaustion. It's an interesting question that can never have a definitive answer.

[–] jeansdollies 8 years ago

Remember-Julian had went through "detox" with Claire and Clay. To then go back and do freebasing again ... extremely hard on the heart. I'm sure, by that point, his body had just had enough.

[–] fiero-49251 8 years ago

Well according to what I heard, Julian's still alive and became a call boy in the sequel, "Imperial Bedrooms" by Ellis! Are people sure he died in "LTZ?" 

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[–] dl4060 8 years ago

Well according to what I heard, Julian's still alive and became a call boy in the sequel, "Imperial Bedrooms" by Ellis! Are people sure he died in "LTZ?"

Obviously the book and the movie are different. In the book Less Than Zero Julian survives.

[–] dhm93510 (9) 5 years ago

I'm sure he was HIV+ at the time of his death but the drugs killed him.

[–] L1 (1316) 5 years ago

The whole thing looks staged to me.

[–] tom8 (3119) 5 years ago

neither.... his heart just gave up.

heart failure from long term drug use

[–] jekporkins (1970) 4 years ago

If I remember correctly, he went to the bathroom when they were on their road trip, right before they pulled over and Blaine realized he was dead. I believe he took a final hit and OD'd on it (or his body just shut down from the punishment).

[–] jdforyou1983 (1470) 4 years ago

It's pretty clear it was an overdose